Pilots Push Back Against Plan to Close Hartford-Brainard Airport

Busy general aviation hub in Connecticut capital has been redevelopment target for decades.

Jonathan Welsh

Thursday, February 03, 2022 at 04:30 PM ET

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Hartford-Brainard Airport opened in 1921. [Photo: Al Braden]

Key Takeaways:

A proposal to close Connecticut's Hartford-Brainard Airport (KHFD) for redevelopment has prompted a significant mobilization from pilots and businesses operating there.
The newly formed Hartford-Brainard Airport Association advocates for keeping the busy regional general aviation airport open, emphasizing its role for aviation businesses, flight instruction, and a technical school.
While city officials propose mixed-use redevelopment, the airport association believes the true intent is to convert the site into a trash management transfer station.
This current closure proposal is considered the most serious threat in the airport's century-long history, which has faced similar redevelopment challenges since 1958.

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A proposal to close Connecticut’s Hartford-Brainard Airport (KHFD) and redevelop the site has sparked a mobilization among pilots who use the airport and businesses that operate there.

The Hartford-Brainard Airport Association, an organization formed last month and incorporated as a nonprofit, wants to keep the airport open and improve it as a way to attract more businesses to the city.